What is WHOIS?

WHOIS is a publicly-searchable database of domain registration information. If you're curious about who owns a domain, ICANN provides a WHOIS lookup service which you can access here. We understand that most folks don't want their contact information to be made public, so Porkbun employs a free WHOIS Privacy service called Private By Design. WHOIS Privacy hides your actual contact information from the public. It is enabled by default for all Porkbun-managed domains and can be toggled by clicking the "glasses" icon in Domain Management.

A typical WHOIS record contains:

The name, street address, email, and phone number contacts for:

The domain's registrant (owner)

The domain's administrator

The technician responsible for the domain's operation

The domain's current registrar

The domain's registration and expiration dates

The domain's official status (a status of "ok" indicates the domain is ready for transfer)

The domain's current authoritative nameservers

In the case of a domain with WHOIS Privacy turned on, your private information is hidden and replaced with the following contact information: